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Saturday, April 10, 2010

This summer, actor Jackson Rathbone will be in two movies expected to be among this season's blockbusters: he'll reprise his role as Jasper the vampire in ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,'' the latest in the romantic series, and will play Sokka the warrior in ''The Last Airbender,'' the live-action adaptation of the popular animated Nickelodeon TV series, '' Avatar: The Last Airbender.''

But for now, he's got music on his mind.

Rathbone is on a 100-show tour with 100 Monkeys -- the quirky, experimental rock-and-blues band he has formed with fellow actors Ben Graupner, Ben Johnson and Jerad Anderson and movie musician ''Uncle Larry'' (M. Laurence Abrahms). The tour stops Thursday at Allentown's Crocodile Rock Cafe.

The band is also working on another studio album -- some of which Graupner says was written when Rathbone and the band were holed up in Philadelphia and Reading during last summer's shooting of ''The Last Airbender.'' And they plan a double-disc live album from the tour. Graupner says all the shows, including Croc Rock's, are being recorded.

Rathbone, 25, also is shopping an independent movie, ''Girlfriend,'' that he and Anderson produced and starred in, as well as wrapping up its soundtrack, which includes new 100 Monkeys music.

''Well, I'm just preparing myself to travel a lot'' this summer, Rathbone says with a laugh in a telephone call from a car ''ripping up through Georgia'' on an interstate highway between 100 Monkeys shows. ''And basically I'm just kind of getting my ability to drink as much coffee as I can.

''That has to be my super power,'' he says in a reference to ''Airbender.'' ''The ability to keep going and never sleep. But that's what I've been doing for a while.''

That's not an overstatement. After playing Nicholas Fiske in the ABC Family channel's ''Beautiful People'' since 2005, Rathbone landed the role of Jasper in the 2008 movie ' 'Twilight,'' based on the wildly popular Stephenie Meyer novels. He reprised his role in November's ''The Twilight Saga: New Moon.''

Now ''Eclipse'' opens June 30 and ''The Last Airbender'' on July 2.

In between, Rathbone formed 100 Monkeys.

Graupner, also talking from the tour road, explains that he, Rathbone and Johnson met at a private high school for the arts in Michigan. He and Rathbone were living in Los Angeles 21/2 years ago when Johnson flew out from his Philadelphia home ''to kind of keep me company'' while Rathbone left for a month to work. But that work was postponed.

''So the three of us were kind of suddenly in L.A. with a bunch of recording gear,'' Graupner said. They invited Anderson, a friend, to join and started recording. They also invited Uncle Larry, whom Graupner and Rathbone had met playing the flute on the set of the film ''The Daze.'' Uncle Larry runs a Los Angeles music studio, Jazz Rhythms Unlimited.

The group started playing Tuesday nights as The 24 Carat Lounge, a nightclub owned by the producers of ''The Daze'' -- simply, Graupner says, ''because we had no place that we could set up drums and play them without getting the police called on us.'' Within a month, the shows were drawing crowds and adding supporting acts that the band, by then called 100 Monkeys, followed onto the road.

''In L.A., you're kind of always touring anyway,'' says Graupner. ''It feels like it takes you an hour and a half to get to any gig you play there.'' So when Rathbone went to San Francisco, then Vancouver for work, the band simply followed and played shows on the way, at the location, and on the way back home, Graupner says.

They also put out an album, ''Monster Delux,'' and several singles, and wrote and recorded another disc, 2009's ''Grape,'' while on the road.

'' 'Grape' was spread, literally, all the way from Lockhart, Texas, up to Vancouver,'' Graupner says. ''We started recording the backtracks down in Lockhart in this sweltering summer heat,'' then recorded more in hotel rooms in Dallas, Los Angeles, ''and then all the way up the coast'' before mixing and mastering the disc in White Rock, Canada.

Graupner says the band continued that model, following Jackson's work for shows. They even wrote some of the upcoming disc and played at Croc Rock while living for a month and a half in Philadelphia and Reading as Rathbone filmed ''The Last Airbender'' in Bucks County, Reading and Carbon County last summer.

Finally in December, 100 Monkeys started a formal tour with the idea of routing 100 shows based on fan voting. But Graupner says many of the places that got the most votes had no suitable venues. ''So we picked the cities that are closest to them with the gear and space that can accommodate us.''

There has been talk of 100 Monkeys appearing on the ''Eclipse'' soundtrack, but Graupner says, ''I think we know just about as much as anyone else who's out there.''

''Obviously, they know who we are,'' he says. ''We played a couple of cast parties and stuff ... you wind up meeting those people. They know the music, but there's been no formal approach from either side concerning that. So I think at this point it's all just sort of Internet buzz.''

Graupner says the band hasn't ruled out signing to a major label, ''but music is changing. It's at a point where you don't need a $50,000 package or a $40,000 advance to make a record. You need time and focus, but in terms of the actual cost of producing something and the gear that you're going to need, you just need a couple of dedicated engineers and you're all good.''

Rathbone says his music is as important to him as his film career, which, admittedly has a much higher profile.

''It's definitely something that I'm putting a lot of my time and my energy in ... It's a very important part of my life that takes precedence from any girlfriend or any love interest. Music and art -- that's my love. That's going to be my life,'' he says with a laugh.

He also says he doesn't mind that 100 Monkeys is getting lots of attention because of his blockbuster movies.

''Whenever people come to one of our shows, they're going to get a show,'' he says. ''They're going to have a great time, regardless why they walked in the door. We don't care. What we care about is putting on an amazing show for the audience.''

He says he tries to keep acting and his music ''separate but equal. At the same time, I like to integrate it. Like with 'Girlfriend,' where I act, produce a movie and then the band does the score for it. I really like the way that kind of goes together. ... I've always loved film and I've always loved music. And I really love being able to keep doing them both at the same time.''

After 150 years of steady sales, the romance between Heathcliff and Cathy has started flying off the shelves thanks to a generation of teenagers discovering the book through the Twilight saga – a trilogy of books by Stephanie Meyer, which have been turned into hugely popular films, staring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.

The Twilight books, which have helped launch a whole new category of publishing – "paranormal romance" – feature baseball, American high schools and vampires, a potent cocktail that has helped the books sell 17 million copies around the world and propelled the films to the top of the box office.
And now, thanks to the lead character Bella quoting Wuthering Heights and comparing her love for the vampire Edward with Cathy's passion for Heathcliff, some of the magic is rubbing off on Emily Bronte's great work.

Wuthering Heights, before the first Twilight books came out in 2005 sold 8,551 a year in Britain. However, the publishers Harper Collins reissued Wuthering Heights last year, with a cover inspired by the Twilight artwork and including the tag-line: "Bella and Edward's favourite book".

Following this reissue, sales peaked at 2,634 in one week and totalled 34,023 during the year, according to Nielsen Bookscan, which monitors book sales across the industry. This was a fourfold increase and it is now one of the best selling novels at Tesco, as well as more traditional book shops.

Discussion forums on the internet have not welcomed Harper Collins's marketing ploy, with reviewers on Amazon sharing their displeasure. One said: "How disgusting that they'll take a literary classic, and revamp it just so it looks like the "teen sensation" that is Twilight. Drawing this parallel is an absolute atrocity, Emily Bronte would be turning in her grave if she could see this.

However, booksellers said it was wonderful the classic had taken off once again.

Tesco's assistant book buyer Rachel Harcourt said: “It’s fantastic to see teenagers are reading a whole different genre – the classics – as well as fantasy novels because of the popularity of Stephanie Meyer’s books.

"The new sleek black gothic-style covers of Wuthering Heights clearly appeal to lovers of vampire romance stories and are helping them to try out a different read. Anything that encourages teenagers to read good books is welcome as there are so many distractions which prevent today’s youngsters from developing reading as a hobby."

Friday, April 9, 2010

No matter what kind of story you want; romance, supernatural, humor, angst, lemons or very dark, ::Team Twi-Smut:: is here to provide it all for you. We work diligently and take our jobs very seriously. Reading smut is extremely time consuming, but we sacrifice everything to bring you only the cream of the crop.

In fact, we have people sending their fics directly to us to review and beta now. Yeah, it's a tough life, but someone has to do it. (YAY US!!) If you have read a fan fiction that you think is outstanding and we haven't reviewed it yet, forward a link to us so we can check it out. It's our pleasure.

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Fan Fic acronyms to know: AU=Alternate Universe, AH=All Human, OOC=Out of Character, Canon=As Stephenie Meyer wrote it, M=Rated Mature. Stories are ranked from 1-5 Sparkles for writing skill, story and plot and overall story quality as it relates to the Twilight Universe.
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8yrs from NM b-day party aftermath: It's the final nail in the coffin & Bella is running south after bad news. Where has she been? Meeting the last person she expected to find on the desert roads of Texas, is her life ending or just beginning?

Set five years after Edward left, Bella and Jasper have formed a tentative friendship, and she finds herself coming full circle, immersed in the Cullen family once again, but under very different circumstances.

Ashley Greene of Twilight fame is set to star in the comedy "Butter" with actress Jennifer Garner, who is one of the film's producers.
Greene will play a high school rebel in the film, which begins shooting in Louisiana next week and follows residents of a small town in the Midwestern United States who prepare for an annual butter-carving contest, the Hollywood Reporter said on Friday.

Greene, 23, also reprises her role of vampire Alice Cullen in the third Twilight movie, Eclipse, which is set to be released on June 30 as well as the fourth, Breaking Dawn, which is expected to hit theaters in 2011.
The films, based on novels by Stephenie Meyer, star Robert Pattinson as Edward and Kristen Stewart as his mortal teen love interest Bella.

Season two Nurse Jackie, which debuted on March 22nd, has brought in a real-time interactive Twitter page for Peter Facinelli's character, Dr. Fitch Cooper, as well as another Twitter-based contest for fans of the series.

The contest involves one of Showtime's official Twitter pages (@Sho_Liz) as well as a bit of letter clue unscrambling.

To celebrate Season 2 of Nurse Jackie airing on SHOWTIME, we are holding a contest for the fans of the series on the social networking website, Twitter. Throughout the course of the contest, 'Tweets' will be released from the SHOWTIME account, @SHO_Liz, in which one letter of the 'tweet' will be isolated from the others. These isolated letters should be collected throughout the duration of the contest in order to help solve the trivia question that will be posted on May 11th. However, please note that not all tweets from @SHO_Liz will contain a 'clue.'

Here is an example of what the contests tweets will look like: @SHO_Liz: Looking forward to ne(x)t week's episode of Nurse Jackie on SHOWTIME! The isolated letter in this tweet is the letter "x"

So what do you need to do to participte? Simply follow the steps below.

1. Follow @SHO_Liz to ensure you won't miss any of the contest tweets. They will be deleted after 24 hours.

2. Collect and save the isolated letter 'clues' posted throughout the contest's duration.

3. On the final day of the contest, we will post a trivia question pertaining to the May 10th episode of Nurse Jackie.

4. Unscramble the letters that were collected throughout the contest to reveal the answer.

5. After you have figured it out, tweet your answer to @SHO_Liz. If you're correct, you will be entered in the drawing.

6. All contest entries must be received no later than 11:59pm, EST on May 13th to be eligible for inclusion in the contest

7. A winner will be randomly picked and announced via the @SHO_Liz Twitter on May 14th. Good luck!

The Oprah Winfrey Show is looking for Twilight fans to appear on the show! It is not clear whether the actors will be there, however.

Are you or your kids obsessed with the Twilight series? Have you or your kids read all the books, seen both movies and now you are counting down the days until the release of Eclipse? Have you already
made plans for the release of the newest movie in June? Who’s your
family’s favorite Twilight star…and why?

Why do you love the story so much? How has it impacted your life? What have you learned from the series and how has it made you a better person? Are you a housewife who’s started a fan club with friends? Do
you have a young adult in your family who’s been inspired to write
his/her own stories? Has the romance in Twilight sparked the romance in
your own relationship?

Look out R-Patz fans, Robert Pattinson might be about to go all rocker on us... The Twilight star has reportedly just landed his dream role, playing music legend Kurt Cobain.
While Rob steps into the Nirvana frontman's no-doubt grungy shoes, it is thought that his leading Courtney Love lady will be played by none other than blonde bombshell Scarlett Johansson. SEE ROBERT PATTINSON'S STYLE HISTORY HERE!
And Rob - who has previously made no secret of wanting to share his musical talents with the world - must thrilled at the thought of getting to sink his teeth into playing Cobain, who sensationally shot himself in 1994.
The Sun reports that the 23-year-old has been in regular contact with Courtney Love, who only agreed to the film on the condition that ‘she gets to decide the main aspects of the project, including director, casting, screenplay and music,' says an inside source.
And it looks as though Rob and Scarlett were top of her list.
‘Robert has been calling and emailing her non-stop,' says the source.
‘She has been a bit wound up by his manners, but he is her number one choice to play Kurt.'
Tread carefully Rob. Nobody wants to get on the wrong side of Miss Love...
‘She is adamant Scarlett will play her,' the source added. ‘Scarlett is friendly with Frances Bean, her daughter with Kurt.'
The Hole singer has reportedly been in touch with director David Fincher - the man behind Fight Club, Se7en and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - about the project, which has been given the initital working title of All Apologies.
The film was originally pitched a few years ago, with Zac Efron suggested as the actor to take on Kurt - but was swiftly blasted by Courtney with a very firm no.

Has an older brother named Cameron and two adopted brothers named Dana and Taylor. They reside with her parents in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles. Kristen purchased her own home in 2008 and divides her time between there and her parents' residence.

Her father is John Stewart, a TV Producer who works at FOX TV. Currently co-producing "On-Air with Ryan Seacrest" (2004).

Born in Los Angeles, California and then spent some of her early years in Colorado and Pennsylvania and has moved back to Los Angeles where she currently resides with her parents.

Supporter and member of the Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet.

Was ranked #17 on Entertainment Weekly's '30 Under 30' the actress list. (2008).

Had to wear brown contact lenses for Twilight (2008/I) because she has naturally green eyes while Bella's eyes are supposed to be brown.

Nominated 3 consecutive years (2003-2005) for the Young Artist Award, but never won.

Named The Movie Fanatic's Hottest Young Actress. (2008).

Has 3 dogs: Oz, a border collie mix, Jack and Lily who are mutts. Also has a cat named Jella.

Was ranked #9 on Moviefone's 'The 25 Hottest Actors Under 25'(2008).

Her mother is Australian.

Reads novels by Charles Bukowski and Kurt Vonnegut Jr..

Favorite book is "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck. Also likes the book "The Stranger" by Albert Camus.

Mother is Jules Mann-Stewart, a script supervisor who is directing her first film K-11 (2010), which stars Kristen.

Was introduced to Vegemite (an Australian spread) by her Sydney-born mum, and names Noosa Heads (a Queensland resort town) as one of her favorite places on the planet. Her Australian heritage also inspired the name of her dog, a border collie named Oz.

After the release of New Moon (2009), Kristen Stewart was called for jury duty in Los Angeles and was accepted to a jury for a case in which the defendant was accused of soliciting sex from an undercover police officer posing as a prostitute. The case proceedings took three days and ended with the jury finding the defendant not guilty.

Little Brown, the publisher of the Twilight books, just sent the following press release:

Eclipse Collector’s Edition is a deluxe edition of the worldwide bestseller, housed in a slipcase and includes a ribbon bookmark, cloth cover and newly-designed, two-color chapter openers. (May 18, 2010; $30.00)

The Eclipse movie tie-in program includes:

Eclipse: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion –this lavishly illustrated paperback will give readers an exclusive behind-the-scene guide to the making of the movie, including exclusive cast interviews and full-color photos of the cast, locations, and sets, and much more. (June 29, 2010; $18.99)

The current frontrunner to direct “Breaking Dawn” is Bill Condon, Gossip Cop can confirm.

Summit Entertainment has yet to sign Condon to the project, but the studio and director are engaged in a negotiation process that has moved the director to the front of the pack, a rep for Summit tells Gossip Cop, corroborating an earlier Deadline.com report.

Condon previously directed films including Kinsey and Dreamgirls.

Almost as long as the book itself, the saga of who would adapt it for the screen has gone through many twists, including a false rumor Gossip Cop busted claiming Gus Van Sant had already “signed” to do the project, and buzz last week that Michael Mann was a major candidate.

Monday, April 5, 2010

According to Indiewire and @Larry411 the Friday release of The Runaways has been pared down from 1000 theaters to only 200.

To anyone who needs another source RE: #TheRunaways NOT going wide this Friday, this appeared at indieWIRE yesterday. They get their numbers direct from the studios: Three-week old “The Runaways,” Floria Sigismondi’s music biopic starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, reduced its screen count significantly from 237 to 84. As a result, it dropped off an understandable 60%, grossing $182,534 for an average of $2,173. That brings its total to $1,972,071. Notable is that “The Runaways” - released through Apparition - is still scheduled for a considerable expansion next Friday, April 9th, though instead of the initially planned 1000 screens, it is now headed for only 200.